Tube end rolling machine



Dec. l5, 1959 F. s. GLAssPooLE 2,917,101

TUBE END ROLLING MACHINE :RANK s. GrLAssPooLe ATTQRN EVS Dec. 15, 1959 F. s. GLAssPooLE 2,917,101

TUBE END ROLLING MACHINE Filed Sept. 21, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

`1:12AM K S GL ASS PQQLE fmmfjm V ,QM-@famv United States Patent O TUBE END RDLLING MACHINE Frank S. Glasspoole, Buffalo, N Y.

Application September 21, 1956, Serial No. 611,098

2 Claims. (Cl. 153-81) This invention relates to metalworking tools, and more particularly to a device for use in enlarging the ends of a boiler `tube or similar malleable tube. A

The main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved automatically controlled tube end enlarging tool which is simple `in construction, which automatically reverses the rotation of the expansion bit element thereof when said bit element has advanced a predetermined distance into the tube, and which automatically operates to cause the bit to resume its normal direction of rotation when the bit is extracted from the enlarged tube end after completing its function.

A further object of the invention is to provide an automatic control attachment for a tube expansion machine, said attachment operating to automatically reverse the direction of rotation of the bit element of the machine after said bit element has advanced a predetermined distance into the end of a tube being expanded and also operating to cause the machine to resume its normal direction of rotation after the bit element has been extracted from the tube, said attachment being easy to mount on the machine, being inexpensive to manufacture, and being rugged in construction.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and claims, and from the accompanying drawings, wherein:

IFigure l is a side elevational view of a tube expanding machine provided with an improved control attachment constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a top View of the machine of Figure l with the attachment of the present invention mounted thereon.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse crosssectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional detail view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional View taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 but showing the reversing valve opened by contact with the abutment element on the slidable rod member of the attachment, in a position similar to that which the abutment element assumes when engaged by vthe rim of a tube being expanded.

Referring to the drawings, .11 designates a conventional tube expanding machine of the type comprising an air driven motor 12 having ak rotary shaft provided with a conventional chuck 13 in which is secured a tube expanding tapered bit 14 adapted to be engaged in the end of a malleable tube for expanding said end, for example, for the purpose of fastening the ends of 'a boiler tube to the boiler end plate through which the tube extends.

Designated at 15 is a hose connected to a suitable source of compressed air, said hose being connected to the tool 11 by means of a T fitting 16, as shown. The

tool 11 is provided with a suitable reversing valve for.

reversing the direction of rotation o f a shaft, said valve being operated by an externally projecting actuating pin 2,917,101 Patented Dec. 15, 1959 17 which is movable through an arcuate slot 18, the pin 17 being normally actuated manually. lIn the position shown in Figure 1, the pin 17 is in the upper end of the slot 18 and the associated control valve is set to provide a normal direction of rotation of the expanding bit 14. When the pin17 is moved to the lower end of the slot 18, the direction of rotation of the shaft of the motor 12 is reversed.

Heretofore, in using a tool 11, the operator inserts the end of the smooth tapered bit 14 into the tube end to be expanded, and advances the tool until a point is reached at which the operator believes the tube has been sufciently expanded. The operator then reverses the direction of rotation of the shaft of motor 12 by manually moving the pin 17 from its upper position, lshown in Figure l to the lower position thereof in slot 18, causing the bit 14 to reverse its direction of rotation and allowing the operator to easily extract the bit from the expanded tube end. However, as will be readily apparent, the above described procedure does not provide uniformity in the operation for a large number of tubes, and also requires the operator to manually move the pin element 17 from -one extreme position to another in the slot 18 whenever the direction of rotation of the tool bit 18 is to be reversed.

It is the prime purpose of the present invention to provide an automatic control attachment for regulating the distance which the tool bit .14 advances into a tube being expanded by automatically reversing the direction of rotation of the tool bit when the bit has advanced a predetermined distance into the tube, and to automatically reset the tool for a subsequent operation when the bit has been extracted from the expanded tube end.

Designated at 19 is a cylinder block which is secured transversely on a clamping band 20, said band being engageable around the forward end of the housing of the air motor 12, and being provided with conventional fastening means 21 for tightly securing the band on said forward end of the tool housing. As shown, with the clamping band 20 engaged on -the forward end 22 of the tool housing, the block 19 is secured in a position parallel to the shaft of the motor 12 and substantially in side by side relationship with the chuck 13.

As shown lin Figures 5 and 6, the cylinder block 19 is formed with the cylindrical bore 23 provided with the opposing end plugs 24 and 25 in -which are slidably mounted the respective axial valve rods 26 and 27 which project axially from the end plugs 24 and 25 and which are formed at their inner ends with respective conical valve heads 28 and 29 sealingly engageable on respective conical valve seats 30 and 31 formed in the innery faces of valve plugs 24 and 25. The seats 30 and 31 are provided between the interior of bore 23 and respective valve chambers 32 and 33 provided in the plugs 24 and 25. A transverse pin 34 is secured in the intermediate portion of the cylindrical bore 23, and bearing against said pin are respective oppositely acting coil springs 35 and 36 which engage the respective valve head elements 28 and 29 and bias said head elements toward their respectve seats 30 and 31. The springs `35 and 36 are relatively light.

A conduit 37 connects the stem of the T fitting 16 to a conduit iitting 38 engaged in the intermediate portion of the wall of cylinder block 19 whereby the cylinder bore 23 is supplied with air under pressure from the supply hose 15.

Designated at 39 is a cylinder which is fastened to the supporting plate 40 in which the slot 18 is formed, the supporting plate 40 being located adjacent the intermediate portion of the cylinder 39, and said cylinder 39 containing a slidable piston 41 to which is rigidly secured a hook-like bracket member 42 which extends through a longitudinal slo't y43 provided in the intermediate por-y Y 3 tion of the wall of cylinder 39. ri`he hook-like bracket 42 is engaged around the reversing valve pin t7, as is clearly shown in Figure 4, whereby the pin i7 may be moved through the slot l responsive to movement of piston 41 in cylinder 3g.

A conduit 44 connects valve chamber 33 to the upper ends of cylinder 39, as viewed in Figure 4, and a similar co'nduit 45 connects valve chamber 32 to the lower end of cylinder 39.

Designated at t6 is a rod member which is slidably mounted in the cylinder block il@ in a longitudinal bore 47 formed -in said block, said rod d6 extending parallel to the cylinder 23 and to the shaft of the motor l2. Rigidly secured to the forward end of rod 46 is a transversely extendingV arm 43 formed with an annular abutment ring 49 which rotatably receives the expanding uit 14 and through which the bit t4 is freely movable. A coil spring Si) surrounds theA bit 3d, bearing between' the forward end of chuck 13 and the ring 49, biasing the rod 46 forwardly.

Adjustably secured on the rod 46 are the respective annular collars 51 and 52, said collars being fastened to the rod i6 by relatively long set screws 53 and :'54 which extend transversely across the common axis of the valve plunger elements 26 and 27. Thus, spring 5d exerts sutiicient force on the rod 46 to' cause the set screw 53 to normally engage the plunger element 26 and hold valve head element 28 in an unseated position, as shown in Figure 5, against the force of the biasing spring 35. As shown in Figure 5, in this normal position the set screw S4 is adjacent to the end of the plunger element 27 but does not exert any force thereon, whereby valve head element 29 remains seated.

In operation of the device, the compressed air from the supply hose l is admitted to the motor l2, as by actuating the operating trigger element 56 of the tool il. The parts normally are in the positions thereof shown in Figures 4 and 5, namely, the piston 4l is in its eleyvated position in the cylinder 39 and the valve element 28 is unseated. Pin 17 is in its upper position in slot 13, causing the motor to drive its shaft in its normal direction of rotation. The tool bit 14 is inserted into the end of the tube to be expanded, and as the tool bit advances through the tube, the rim of the tube eventually engages the annular element v49, whereby force is transmitted through the rod 46 and the set screw 54 to the plunger element 27, causing valve 29 to become unseated and causing plunger element 25 to be released. Valve element 28 thus closes and valve element 29 opens, whereby compressed air from the bore 23 is supplied through the conduit 44 to the upper end of cylinder 39, causing the plunger 41 to be forced downwardly in cylinder 39 and causing the pin 17 to be moved from the upper end of slot 18 to the lower end of said slot, thereby reversing the mo'tor l2. As soon as the direction of rotation of the tube expanding bit 14 reverses, the operator extracts the bit from the tube. As the bit 14 is extracted from the tube, the element 49 disengages from the rim of the tube, whereby spring 5b returns the rod 46 to its normal position, causing set screw 54 to disengage from plunger element 27 and causing set screw 53 to engage the plunger element 25, whereby valve element 28 becomes unseated and valve element 29 beco'mes seated. This supplies compressed air to the llower portion of cylinder 39 through the conduit 45, causing the plunger 4l to be elevated to the normal position thereof Shown in Figure 4 in full line view, and causing the motor shaft to resume its normal direction of rotation.

From the above description, it will be readily apparent that after the expanding bit 14 has advanced the required distance into the end of the tube being expanded, the bit automatically reverses its direction of rotation, thus informing the operator that the required amount of expansion has been accomplished, whereupon the operator irnmediately withdraws the bit from the tube. This restores the normal direction of rotation of the bit 14, whereby the tool may immediately be applied to the next tube end to be expanded.

The intermediate portieri of the cylinder 39 is provided with a pair of vent openings 60, as well as with the slot 23, and the plunger il is provided with sulicient clearance in the cylinder 39 to allow air trapped in the cylinder to discharge therefrom when the plunger 41 is moved either from its normal position, shown in Figure 4, toward the lower end of cylinder 39, or from said lower end toward the upper po'sition of said cylinder by the operation of valve elements 29 and 23, as above described.

While a specific embodiment of an improved tube expanding machine and a control attachment therefor have been disclosed in the foregoing description, it will be i understood that 'various modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention except as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. in a tube expanding machine, a reversible motor, a rotary shaft projecting from said motor, a tube-expanding tapered smooth bit secured to said shaft for rotation ith, a cylinder block on said machine and adjacent paced from said motor, there being a longitudinal bore in said block extending from one end to the other end thereof, a plug closing each end of said bore, each or" said plugs being provided with a valve chamber open- Y ing into said bore, a valve working in each of said chambers slidable in the adjacent plug, said Valves being normalty positioned so that one of said valves is in seated position over the opening in the said bore and the other of said valves is in unseated position with respect to the A opening in the said bore, spring means interposed in said bore between said valves and operatively connected to said block and valves for biasing the valves toward the seated positions with respect to the chamber openings in the said. bore, a rod extending parallel to said shaft and slidable in said block, a pair of spaced proiections carried by said rod and engageable with said valves responsive to sliding movement of said rod in opposite directions, an abutment element carried by said rod and surrounding said bit, said abutment element being engageable by the rim of a tube after said bit has advanced a predetermined distance into said tube, a lixed supporting plate on said machine, said plate being provided with an arcuate closed slot, a control element for controliing the direction of rotation of said shaft on said motor and projecting through and working in said slot, a fluid pressure cylinder carried by said supporting plate, a reciprocating piston worlting within said cylinder, means connecting said control element to said piston for movement with the latter, and conduit means connecting said chambers to the opposite ends of said cylinder, said piston being movable responsive to admission of fluid under pressure from one of said chambers into the adjacent end of said cylinder to actuate said control element and reverse said motor.

2. In a tube expanding machine, a reversible motor, a rotary shaft projecting .from said motor, a tube-expanding tapered smooth bit secured to said shaft for rotation therewith, a cylinder block on said machine and adjacent to and spaced from said motor, there being a longitudinal bore in said bloclt extending from one end to the other end thereof, a plug closing each end of said bore, each of said plugs being provided with a valve chamber opening into said bore, a valve working in each of said chambers and slidable in the adjacent plug, said valves being normaliy positioned so that one of said valves is in seated position over tbe opening in the said bore and the other of said valves is in unseated position with respect to the opening in the said bore, spring means interposed in said bore between `said valves and operatively connected to said block and valves for biasing the valves toward the seated positions with respect to the chamber openings in the said bore, each of said valves having a portion external of said block, a rod extending parallel to said shaft and slidable in said block, a pair of spaced projections carried by said rod and engageable with the external portions of said valves responsive to sliding movement of said rod in opposite directions, an abutment element carried by said rod and surrounding said bit, said abutment element being engageahle by the rim of a tube after said bit has advanced a predetermined distance into said tube, a fixed supporting plate on said machine, said plate being provided with an arcuate closed slot, a control element for controlling the direction of 15 rotation of said shaft on said motor and projecting through and Working in said slot, a uid pressure cylinder carried by said supporting plate, a reciprocating piston Working within said cylinder, means embodying a hook-like bracket member carried by said piston and embracingly engaging the projecting portion of said control element connecting said control element to said piston for movement with the latter, and conduit means connecting said chambers to the opposite ends of said cylinder, said piston being movable responsive to admission of fluid under pressure from one of said chambers into the adjacent end of said cylinder to actuate said control element and re- 10 Verse said motor.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,648,820 Phillips NOV. 8, 1927 2,355,852 Fisher Allg. 15, 1944 2,690,205 Stary Sept. 28, 1954 2,725,918 Deshler Dec. 6, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,075,432 France Oct. 15, 1954 

